Can Cardano Prices Move Higher In the Second Half of 2021?
Cardano blockchain was launched in 2017 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson. It is currently one of the largest proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain platforms in the world. The company pioneered cryptocurrency ADA, which is based on Cardano’s proprietary PoS consensus protocol Ouroboros. Cardano ADA is currently the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $37.89 billion.
Cardano ADA is a third-generation open-source cryptocurrency designed to ensure equitable distribution of power among coin holders. ADA cryptocurrency holders have the right to participate in the operations of the Cardano network and are expected to vote on any proposed changes to the software.
Cardano Smart Contract
Cardano is scheduled to launch a major upgrade on October 1, incorporating advanced Plutus smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol to the existing blockchain. This follows Cardano’s successful Alonzo White hard fork deployment on July 15.
The Alonzo White hard fork is expected to commercially launch in August. This update is the underpinning secure smart contract rollout within the next few months. Analysts are predicting the price of Cardano to increase following the launch of its smart contracts Plutus in late 2021.
The platform is currently conducting testnet phases, namely, Alonzo Blue, Alonzo White, and Alonzo Purple, to expand its capabilities and user count substantially. Cardano’s mathematically verifiable smart contracts are expected to be highly secure. The Plutus platform should be used to launch decentralized applications (DApps) and DeFi services, along with non-fungible tokens and crowdfunding services.
The successful launch of its smart contracts should allow the Cardano platform to formulate its DeFi ecosystem, emerging as a major competitor to the second-largest blockchain Ethereum.
Price performance
Cardano ADA has gained 541.6% year-to-date, outperforming Ethereum’s 151.28% returns, and Bitcoin’s 7.96% gains over this period. Its trading volume has increased 3.82% over the past 24 hours to $1.61 billion. The cryptocurrency is currently trading above its 200-day moving average of $1.14.
ADA is relatively stable compared to Ethereum, as its 30-day beta of 0.80 is lower than Ethereum’s score of 1.11 in the 30-day period. Given the current volatility and recent pullback in the cryptocurrency markets, ADA’s relatively low volatility makes it an ideal crypto investment now.
Recent updates
Over the past couple of weeks, Cardano instated several updates to strengthen its blockchain network and cryptocurrency. Its full node cryptocurrency wallet Daedalus has made solid progress to implement rewards history and additional user interface and user experience updates. The decentralized wallet’s standalone validation of every transaction and secure operations are hosted with third-party servers.
Moreover, the platform upgraded its networking to the P2P switch, as well as merged the server simulation. It also worked on Plutus Application backend development to enable optional permissive CORS policy and enhanced chain index operations.
Earlier in June, Cardano’s holding company IOHK partnered with Nervos to develop a bridge of interoperability between the two networks. The cross-chain bridge is expected to facilitate the transaction of assets between the two blockchains, strengthening their global reach.
Cardano vs. Ethereum
The third-generation cryptocurrency is often hailed as the “Ethereum killer.” The cryptocurrency is substantially energy efficient, compared to the Ethereum blockchain. Moreover, Cardano’s ADA has a cap of 45 billion coins, while there is no limit to the number of Ethereum tokens that can be mined. More than 70% of ADA tokens are staked (as of April 2021), surpassing Ethereum’s staked volume significantly.
Cardano’s research-driven approach and highly optimized transactions executed at high speeds and minimal costs compare with Ethereum’s slow execution and high transaction costs and energy consumption. Cardano can process approximately 1 million transactions per second, while Ethereum can process only 52 transactions per second.
Furthermore, Cardano consumes 6 GWh, compared to Ethereum’s 52 TWh energy consumption. Ethereum developers are gearing up to launch major updates to the current blockchain, which are already present on Cardano’s PoS consensus protocol.
Cardano launched an Ethereum token converter in May, allowing ERC20 token migration to its PoS platform. The third-generation cryptocurrency’s higher transaction processing capacity and lower costs are expected to attract Ethereum token holders.
Bottom line
The recent market correction in the blockchain and cryptocurrency markets provides the perfect opportunity for investing in the same. While Cardano is currently the fifth-largest player in this industry, its decentralized open-source project is poised to overtake Ethereum in the upcoming months, given the cryptocurrencies advanced transaction processing capabilities at relatively lower costs. Moreover, Cardano’s superior architecture and the research-based platform are likely to be a major hit among budding developers and enterprises opting to utilize blockchain technology for their operations.
The rising popularity of smart contracts and DeFi should allow cryptocurrencies to overtake traditional transactions and banking in the near future. Cardano’s relatively lower price and high security provide vantage in this regard, as the altcoin currently projects immense growth potential. Additionally, Cardano’s voting on-chain governance and high liquidity make it poised to reach fresh highs by the end of this year.
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